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What spurred us to action?

Listening to our members and supporters, it was clear by 2013 that nuisance calls had become a real menace for people up and down the country – but we wanted to know the true extent of the problem.

So we carried out research and what we learnt was staggering: 7 in 10 people received unsolicited calls and 4 in 10 unwanted texts in 2013.

We took this research to our members and supporters and you told us thousands of your nuisance call stories. We listened – and took your case studies and our research to the regulators and demanded urgent action.

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Leading the fight

With tens of thousands joining our campaign in the first few months, the government soon acted. They announced a clampdown on nuisance calls and texts, making it easier for regulators to punish companies who break the rules.

Action was taken on our other demands soon afterwards, the government announcing a Nuisance Calls Action Plan – the first ever coordinated attempt effort to tackle cold calling.

A task force of experts, which we were picked to lead, was also set up to review how consumers give and withdraw their consent to be contacted.

We took the task force’s recommendations to the government, demanding it be made easier for you to revoke your consent to be contacted, and demanding senior executives be made accountable for the actions of their company.

Big fines for big offenders

Just months later, in early 2015, the government announced fines of up to £500,000 could be dished out to firms which make repeated, unwanted nuisance calls.

The new rules also meant that regulators would no longer have to prove ‘substantial damage and distress’ before prosecuting.

Next, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) joined the crackdown on cold calling, demanding information from over 1,000 companies potentially involved in nuisances calls on the data they hold and share and their practices.

Phone companies were next to join the campaign against nuisance calls. BT announced in early 2016 that they’d launch a new free service aimed at blocking tens of millions of nuisance calls.

Demanding more

With over 400,000 people now behind our campaign, the government and regulators continued acting on our demands.

In late 2016, in the next crackdown on cold calling, the government announced directors of companies behind nuisance calls will face personal fines of up to £500,000.

Just a few months later, the government also announced nuisance calls firms will be forced to display their phone numbers when they call you – making it easier for the public to avoid nuisance calls and report callers to the regulator.

Soon our campaign claimed another landmark victory: in early 2017 the Prime Minister announced nuisance callers would soon be blocked from contacting the most vulnerable in society, hi-tech call-blocking systems being installed in the homes of some of the most vulnerable people in the UK.

But it didn’t end there. Nuisance calls firms – and bosses – can only be held accountable if people report them. So we developed an easy to use nuisance calls reporting tool to hold companies feet to the fire and ensure big fines are dished out to big offenders.

Report a call or text

We’ve built a free Which? tool that lets you tell the regulator about a nuisance call or text you’ve received. Every report you make through our tool helps us crack down on the sources of unwanted calls and texts.

Update

500k sign our petition demanding nuisance calls action

Over half a million people have signed our petition demanding urgent action on nuisance calls.

Event

6th April 2017

Government funds call blocking for the vulnerable

Our Calling Time On Nuisance Calls has claimed another landmark victory: under plans announced today by the Prime Minister, nuisance callers will soon be blocked from contacting the most vulnerable in society.

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Theresa May is promising to provide susceptible members of the public, including the elderly, with the technology to do exactly that.

As part of the project, which is expected to cost £500,000, hi-tech call-blocking systems will be installed in the homes of some of the most vulnerable people in the UK.

trueCall devices block a range of calls including all recorded messages, silent calls and calls from numbers the homeowner has pre-identified as unrecognised.

Win

1st December 2016

Win! Firms will be forced to display phone numbers

In a win for our ongoing campaign, marketing firms will be forced to display their phone numbers in the latest crackdown on nuisance calls.

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The Government has announced that it will be a legal requirement for marketing callers to provide a valid phone number that can be displayed when they call you. This will not only help you decide whether you want to answer the call or not, it will make it easier for you to report unsolicited calls to the regulators.

All cold callers will be forced by law to display their phone numbers when making unsolicited calls under the plans.

Companies that breach these rules, including those with overseas call centres, will be hit by hefty fines.

Win

26th October 2016

Proposals to fine bosses of nuisance calling firms

The government has proposed that directors of companies behind nuisance calls could face personal fines of up to £500,000.

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Previously, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has had the power to fine companies found to be making nuisance calls, but often these companies avoid paying the fines by declaring bankruptcy and restarting their businesses under a new name.

Today’s proposals mean bosses could be be held personally accountable with an additional £500,000 fine. This would stop fine dodging and close one of the loopholes which keeps nuisance callers in business.

Which? Director of Home and Legal Services, Alex Neill, said:

‘It’s good to see the Government has listened to consumers and will be introducing new rules to hold company directors to account.

‘This legislation will stop rogues dodging fines for bombarding consumers with nuisance calls and side-stepping the rules by closing one business and re-establishing a new one.’

Update

22nd May 2016

Over 400k people sign petition

More than 400,000 people have signed our petition calling for urgent action on nuisance calls.

Twitter

Win

11th February 2016

Win! New BT service to block nuisance calls

BT is to launch a free service that will block nuisance calls before they get to you, in another win for our campaign.

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BT has announced a new service aimed at diverting millions of nuisance calls, which is set to launch later this year. BT has said that it will harness huge computer power to analyse and monitor calls to the company’s 10 million domestic customers and identify any patterns of callers.

Any rogue numbers will then be diverted to a junk voice box, which BT estimates will affect up to 25m unwanted calls a week.

Event

We demand action from Scottish government on nuisance calls

Three quarters of Scots are discouraged from picking up their phone due to the scourge of nuisance calls.

Our latest survey found a shocking nine in ten people in Scotland have had nuisance calls to their landline in the last month.

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We’ve been asking the UK Government to do more to tackle this problem, but given this is such an acute issue in Scotland too, we call on the Scottish Government to publish an action plan on how it will cut off nuisance calls.

Our executive director, Richard Lloyd, said:

‘With the vast majority of Scots getting nuisance calls, it is clear efforts must be re-doubled to tackle this modern menace. People are fed up with being bombarded with unwanted calls and texts that waste their time and invade their privacy.

‘The Scottish Government should lead the way by setting out how it plans to fight back against nuisance callers. Scottish businesses should make senior executives responsible if their firm makes unlawful calls.’

Event

23rd November 2015

Regulator acts on nuisance call firms

As part of its ongoing crackdown on nuisance calls, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) announced that it will be contacting over 1,000 companies involved in the compiling and trading of personal data to investigate their practices and ensure they are acting lawfully.

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The regulator will be writing out to businesses this week requesting information on the data these firms hold and share; how this data is collected; and the details of companies that they have worked with in the past six months. The regulator will also be issuing three fines to businesses this week.

Twitter

Win

25th February 2015

Win! New powers against nuisance call firms announced

Changes announced today mean that regulators will no longer have to prove ‘substantial damage and distress’ before prosecuting, but will be able to impose fines of up to £500,000 on firms which make repeated, unwanted nuisance calls.

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The new rules will come into force within four months.

Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd said:

‘We welcome the Government making good on its promise to change the law so it’s easier to prosecute nuisance callers. These calls are an everyday menace blighting the lives of millions so we want the regulator to send a clear message by using their new powers to full effect without delay.

“It’s also good news that the Government has listened to our call and is looking into how senior executives can be held to account if their company makes nuisance calls.”

Event

8th December 2014

Nuisance calls task force sets out action plan

The Which? led Nuisance Calls Task Force sets out recommendations to tackle unwanted calls and texts.

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Our recommendations include making it easier for you to revoke your consent to be contacted, and making senior executives more responsible for the actions of their company.

Our report provides clear action for business and regulators to act on, and we will carefully consider the recommendations for Government.

Update

100k sign our petition demanding action

Over 100,000 people have signed our petition demanding action on nuisance calls since the launch of our campaign.

Event

30th March 2014

Which? to head up nuisance calls task force

The government announced a Nuisance Calls Action Plan, the first ever coordinated attempt effort to tackle cold calling.

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Which? have been chosen to head up task force of experts to review how consumers give and withdraw their consent to be contacted.

Our campaign found that people are often unaware that they’ve given permission to be contacted by a company for marketing purposes. The task force will bring together regulators, consumer and industry experts.

Event

30th July 2013

Government announces cold call clampdown

In a win for our campaign the government announced plans to clamp down on nuisance calls and texts, making it easier for regulators to punish companies who break the rules.

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Under the plans, the government will make it easier for Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to share data about nuisance calling companies.

And the ICO will only have to prove that nuisance calls are an annoyance before taking enforcement action, rather than distress or substantial harm.

Event

19th March 2013

Which? demands action on nuisance calls

Seven in ten people receive unsolicited calls and four in 10 an unwanted text, our research found – and thousands in our community wanted to know why more wasn’t being done to combat nuisance calls.

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So we took action, calling on the four key regulators to set up a joint taskforce to crack down on nuisance calls.